House Commerce Chairman Walden warns Big Tech: Step up or be regulated

Source: 
Author: 
Coverage Type: 

House Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) launched an attack on the market power of large tech companies. "I’m not looking for a lot of regulation, I’m looking for responsibility," Chairman Walden said. "If responsibility doesn’t flow, then regulation will." Chairman Walden raised multiple areas for possible regulation:

  • Liability for online platforms, which the House addressed Feb 27 by passing a bill that allows victims of sex trafficking to sue web platforms that knowingly facilitated the crime
  • Digital political advertisements of the sort that Russian operatives bought during the 2016 election
  • Privacy as it related to the massive tranches of data collected by online platforms
  • Network neutrality, which Chairman Walden suggested could be applied to platforms as well as telecommunication companies

House Commerce Chairman Walden warns Big Tech: Step up or be regulated